Does Feminism Belong in Modern Society?

Asking if feminism has a place in our society is like asking a Star Wars fan if they liked the original trilogy better than the prequels. Of course (on both accounts).

While feminism and Star Wars each have different connotations, there’s q consistent, simple assumption on ‘Yes! Why not?’. Feminism is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. Anyone who doesn’t think we need it in modern society is, to put in in the most scientific way possible, a butt face. Feminism is needed, it’s always been needed, but it has not always had a place in society. 100 years ago, in 1918, the idea of women’s rights, of women’s equality, was just a distant dream. Women were mistreated, married off, unable to keep their own property or money, and if they were not married by age 23 they were considered an unwanted spinster. It wasn’t even until 1920 in the United States that women got the right to vote.

On a related note, I think the Second Wave of feminism is my favorite wave. The first wave gave women the right to vote and to own property (things that most people would want , that were literally written in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights when the United States was founded in 1776. But these rights were not given until 1920 to women!).

I think Feminism is the missing puzzle piece to help us as a society push forward into the 21st century.

You may be thinking; "Well women have more rights than ever before".

Does it seem to you that women enjoy more freedoms and equality than ever before? It depends on where you live. Live in good o’l Sweden or Denmark? Heck yeah. But if you live somewhere like Brazil or Yemen or Saudi Arabia? Heck no. In Brazil, 65% of people polled in a BBC article believe that if a women dresses in revealing clothing that she deserves to get raped. In Yemen, half of young girls will be child brides to men decades older than them. It wasn’t even until October 2017 that women were allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, one of reason being that it can cause ovarian or breast cancer. Driving.

I know.

In terms of academia/and or archeological studies feminism has had a positive impact. More and more we see intelligent women going into STEM fields where they were banned before, and the equal rights ideology of feminism has allowed women to truly and honestly work and get things done. Take Jennifer Doudna, a scientist and professor at UC Berkely who helped develop CRISPR, the genetic-engineering method that could lead to the eradication or treatment of sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, and HIV. 50 years ago, despite being brilliant, Jennifer Doudna would never even been given a chance to develop such important technology and advances in science. Hands down, feminism has had a positive impact on academia, and as someone who is a huge nerd, that means it has had a positive impact on society as well.

Overall, I think feminism is for everyone, and we really do need it if we want to call our society modern. It certainly gets a bad rep, not to mention tons of backlash (especially online and social media platforms. Looking at you, reddit incels). Nowadays things have gotten better, but only for a few. There’s still hundreds of thousands of men and women hurt by a lack of gender equality. There's gay men and women, gender non-confirming people, being hurt by this anti-women, anti-equality agenda. Until we support and lift up everyone, (and I mean EVERYONE) in the lens of gender equality, I don't think we truly can be concerned a true modern society.